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I came across a report about a year ago (or so) of a fellow who buzzed a jetliner (can't remember if it was landing or taking off) with an RC plane. The RC was caught in the wash, and was totally mangled. He and his buddies had filmed it. They had a good laugh about it, and posted the video on YouTube. The authorities were not impressed however, and came down on him pretty hard. It's lucky the thing wasn't sucked into the turbine.

The national/DC monument grounds are right near a "no-fly zone" plus an int'l airport. We have been warned that our kites show-up on radar (a Sutton 252 with 2 forty foot spin-socks) occasionally. We always need to land all kites when the white house choppers come in, usually for an hour!

A friend flying a large inflatable at a Park near the Oakland Airport was quickly visited by Airport Security and told to "Take it down NOW". This was pre 9/11 and I'm sure he was on less than 200', but he was on the Radar.

A family had just bought a new delta and hardwood spool of 1000 feet and asked where my favorite beach is. I told them the beach next to the Hotel Del Coronado is my favorite with the soft white sand with flecks of gold (actually pyrite, foolsí gold), and good restaurants nearby. Now, Iíve flown a kite nearly everywhere in San Diego County, except there, and forgot about the military airport nearby. The Dad came into the store the next day with a big smile on his face and said, ďIíve been kicked out of parties, bars, and even a bowling alley. Thatís the 1st time Iíve ever been kicked out of a beach!Ē The lifeguards were not entertained by his familyís 56Ē delta with three flowing organza tails at 600 feet!!! No fines, nobody harmed, and a new story for Dad. kitepilot

We have a friend living in the condos on the beach across the street from the Hotel Del. We have been told that it is illegal to fly a kite on the beach north of that breakwater, in front of the hotel. Flying south of the breakwater, in front of the condos, is OK.

I live/fly about 3 miles from a small municipal airport and about 5 miles from a couple of commercial float plane terminals and a "public/gov`t" dock/wharf and am out of the flight paths. Quite a few helicopters fly by as well, following the coastline, but well up in the air. No problems there either...but what has been a problem from time to time is some idiot flying their float plane right along the coastline at a couple of hundred feet, literally right above where you`re flying, not to mention any other folks on the beach. I keep any single liners about 100'-125' above the ground and my longest dual or quad lines are 100'....but still with these lengths/kite height a plane zinging by a hundred feet above that can be unnerving. If I can see or hear a plane coming very low I`ll land the kite and give the pilot the finger as they are well under the height restrictions for an aircraft. Unfortunately I`ve never been able to get a planes # and don`t know the makes/models.... This happens a couple of times a year.Years ago we were on Iona Beach near Vancouver airport flying a couple of small pocket parafoils, and a parks person asked us to stop......blanket policy in regard to any kites irregardless of kite weight or flying height. No problem as they were cool and we had only put the kites up while we stopped our hike for lunch.... Last spring I had to get out of the way of the small(er) coast guard hovercraft as it "landed" close to where I was flying. They had to check something out near the mouth of the creek and or course that day I was flying a quad over the water where the creek meets the ocean.... I had put the kite down back on the shore, as they were getting fairly close and had waved hello at them. They waved back and asked me very politely, over their loudspeaker to move as they wished to come ashore to land. No problem complying there. Some of the crew had noticed kites flying before at the beach as they (the hovercrafts) come by every once in a while usually a ways offshore. Turned out one of the crew liked to fly big flowform kites with lots of laundry...but not off the hovercraft... bt

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